Colorado Symphony 2016/17 Season Presenting Sponsor:
GEEK • 2016/2017 A SYMPHONIC TRIBUTE TO COMIC CON: THE TETROLOGY COLORADO SYMPHONY CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, conductor SANDY CAMERON, violin COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, Taylor Martin, assistant conductor Saturday's Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to IAC Corporation
Friday, March 24, 2017, at 7:30pm Saturday, March 25, 2017, at 7:30pm Boettcher Concert Hall JEREMY SOULE/Kenton
" Dragonborn Theme" from Elder Scrolls V – SKYRIM
DANNY ELFMAN/McKenzie
Nightmare Before Christmas Suite
NOBUO UEMATSU
"One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII
AUSTIN WINTORY
"Delphinus delphis" from Abzu
AUSTIN WINTORY
Assassin Dances for Violin and Orchestra
RAMIN DJAWADI
Theme from Game of Thrones
JOHN WILLIAMS
Theme from Jurassic Park — INTERMISSION —
JOHN WILLIAMS
“ Witches, Wands and Wizards” from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
JOHN WILLIAMS
“ The Knight Bus” from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
JESSICA CURRY/Fowler
"Frank's Psalm" from Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
TAKESHI FURUKAWA The Last Guardian: Suite for Orchestra Moderato espressivo RON GRAINER/MARIE GOLD/Beard Theme from Doctor Who JOHN WILLIAMS
"Leia’s Theme" from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
JOHN WILLIAMS
" Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 1
GEEK BIOGRAPHIES CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, conductor Australian conductor Christopher Dragon is in his second season as the Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony and commences his position as Principal Guest Conductor with the Denver Young Artists Orchestra. For three years, Christopher previously held the position of Assistant Conductor with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, which gave him the opportunity to work closely with Principal Conductor Asher Fisch. Christopher works regularly in Australia and has conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. His 2015 debut performance at the Sydney Opera House with Josh Pyke and the Sydney Symphony has been released on CD by ABC Music. In 2017, Christopher returns to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra for a subscription concert. In 2016, he made his Brazilian conducting debut with the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre. He has also conducted at numerous festivals including the Breckenridge and Bangalow Music Festivals, both resulting with invitations to return. At the beginning of 2016, Christopher conducted Wynton Marsalis’ Swing Symphony as part of the Perth International Arts Festival alongside Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 2014, Christopher was selected from 100 international applicants to conduct the Princess Galyani Vadhana Youth Orchestra in Thailand and earlier that year participated in the Jarvi Winter Academy in Estonia where he was awarded the Orchestra’s Favourite Conductor Prize. Christopher began his conducting studies in 2011 and was a member of the prestigious Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program under the guidance of course director Christopher Seaman. He has also studied with numerous distinguished conductors including Leonid Grin, Paavo and Neeme Jarvi at the Jarvi Summer Festival, Fabio Luisi at the Pacific Music Festival, and conducting pedagogue Jorma Panula.
SANDY CAMERON, violin Declared “brilliant” by the Washington Post, violinist Sandy Cameron is one of the most strikingly unique artists of her generation. Since her debut at the age of 12 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Ms. Cameron has performed extensively as a soloist and recitalist throughout North America, Europe, and Korea. At 15, Sandy was a featured guest at the famed White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the Salzburg Festival in Salzburg, Austria, and at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. She has toured North America with renowned conductor Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra, and made other solo appearances with orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Ms. Cameron was a performer in Cirque du Soleil’s Los Angeles based show, “IRIS”, and is a featured soloist in Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton concerts and The Nightmare Before Christmas Live at The Hollywood Bowl. Her work has been featured on a number of major film scores including Rio 2, The Peanuts, Straight Outta Compton, Goosebumps, The 5th Wave, Fifty Shades of Grey, Fantastic Four, and The Cobbler. She will also be touring with composer Austin Wintory performing his score for the video game Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Ms. Cameron has earned numerous awards and honors, including the title of Presidential Scholar, and graduated from Harvard University (‘09) and New England Conservatory (‘10). A firm believer in giving back to the community, Ms. Cameron created her own Music Benefit Fund in 2004, which provided funding for musical education and activity in the schools and community of Poolesville, MD, and continues to participate in a number of charity events. The outstanding violin used by Ms. Cameron, crafted by Pietro Guarnerius of Venice, c. 1735, is on extended loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society® of Chicago. PROGRAM 2 SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG
GEEK BIOGRAPHIES TAYLOR MARTIN, assistant conductor, Colorado Symphony Chorus Taylor Martin is a dynamic conductor, educator, and professional singer working with Denver’s diverse populations since 2012. Taylor has served as the Artistic Director of the Denver Pro Chorale since 2016, performing diverse programs, and developing collaborations with the Breckenridge Music Festival, Colorado Symphony, and Colorado Chorale, among others. In 2016, Taylor was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Chorus, serving as Chorus Director of Video Games Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater, and for Danny Elfman’s Music From the Films of Tim Burton, at Boettcher Concert Hall. In collaboration with the Colorado Symphony and Chorus, Taylor prepared the Denver Pro Chorale for Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses. An impassioned educator in Denver, Taylor has taught with the non-profit organization, El Sistema Colorado, since its infancy, developing key elements of the choral curriculum. The program brings free music education to under-served students in the Globeville and Swansea neighborhoods in Denver, and has become an important part of the cultural fabric of Colorado. As an active professional singer, Taylor sings regularly with the Colorado Bach Ensemble, and Saint Martin’s Chamber Choir, with whom he joined the Santa Fe Desert Chorale for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem in the summer of 2014. Taylor is a featured tenor soloist on the Saint Martin’s Chamber Choir recording of Henri Hardouin’s masses, to be released by Toccata Classics in 2016. Taylor serves as Director of Music at Christ the King Catholic Church in Denver, where he directs four ensembles, and is a sought-after clinician and guest conductor throughout the Greater Denver Area.
SATURDAY . APRIL 29 . 2017
6 pm :: Fillmore Auditorium :: Denver, Colorado presenting sponsor
save the date
info: coloradosymphony.org SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 3
GEEK BIOGRAPHIES COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS The 2016-2017 Colorado Symphony Concert Season marks the 33rd year of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe at the request of Gaetano Delogu, then the Music Director of the Symphony, the chorus has grown, over the past three decades, into a nationally-respected ensemble. This outstanding chorus of 180 volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous performances (more than 25 this year alone), and radio and television broadcasts, to repeat critical acclaim. The Chorus has performed at noted music festivals in the Rocky Mountain region, including the Colorado Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, where it has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony. For over two decades, the Chorus has been featured at the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival, performing many great masterworks under the baton of notable conductors Lawrence Foster, James Levine, Murry Sidlin, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and David Zinman. Among the recordings the CSO Chorus has made is a NAXOS release of Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 4. The Chorus is also featured on a recent Hyperion release of the Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and Stephen Hough’s Missa Mirabilis. In 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Chorus, Duain Wolfe conducted the Chorus on a 3-country, 2-week concert tour of Europe, presenting the Verdi Requiem in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl, and Prague, and in 2016 the Chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg, and Munich. From Evergreen to Lochbuie, and Boulder to Castle Rock, singers travel each week to rehearsals and performances in Denver totaling about 80 a year. The Colorado Symphony continues to be grateful for the excellence and dedication of this remarkable, all-volunteer ensemble! For an audition appointment, call 303.308.2483.
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS ROSTER Duain Wolfe, Founding Director and Conductor; Mary Louise Burke, Associate Conductor; Travis Branam, Assistant Conductor; Taylor Martin, Assistant Conductor; Eric Israelson, Chorus Manager; Barbara Porter, Associate Manager; Brian Dukeshier, Danni Snyder, Accompanists Soprano Manda Baker Jude Blum Sia Christus Sarah Coberly Kimberly Cowan Claudia Dakkouri Heather Higginbotham Melanie Knecht Lisa Kraft Stephanie Medema Erin Montigne Kim Pflug Barb Porter Kathi Rudolph
Alto Shari Daniel Barb Deck Madeline Gardner Brianna Jarrell Stacy Krueger Joanna Maltzahn Elli Schalow Lisa Townsend Pat Virtue Tenor James Carlson Dusty Davies Ken Kolm Bryan Grosbach Kevin Guzzo Kevin Mackin Jacob Muehsam Andrew Seamans
Bass Michael Ballard Bob Friedlander Chris Grossman Mike Hardey Eric Israelson Roy Kent Mike Kraft Rob Millar Ken Quarles Russ Skillings Curtis Sosias Will Swanson Tom Virtue
PROGRAM 4 SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG